OMAHA TRIBE

This was the homeland of the Omaha Tribe long before white
settlers came to the Great Plains. By 1750, the Omaha occupied
a large region in northeastern Nebraska and northwestern Iowa.
The name "Omaha" means "those going against the
wind or current" and may refer to a traditional migration
up the Missouri River by the ancestors of the present tribe. Lewis
and Clark, in 1804, recorded that the Omaha lived here and noted
the grave of Chief Blackbird. By a treaty in 1854, the Omaha gave
up much of their territory, except for the area of the present
reservation.

The Omaha were a peaceful people who lived by agriculture and
hunting. During the trying years in the nineteenth century, they
were guided by such forward-looking and influential leaders as
Big Elk and Joseph La Flesche (Iron Eye). The tribe never took
up arms against the flood of white settlers. A number of Omaha
served in Nebraska military units as early as the Civil War.

Today, the Omaha people continue to live on their traditional
homelands where their ancestors farmed, hunted, and are buried.

Historical Land Mark Council
Community Building, Macy
Thurston County
Marker 71